Michelle Williams

Here's some news to help you over the hump that is Wednesday!

• Think you're living a sexism-free life?  Think again.  Andrea Grimes reveals the implications of the everyday choices feminists make and defends them. [Hay Ladies!]
• An open letter to Michelle Williams on dressing up as and equating Native Americans with Munchkins. [The Nation]
• Colorlines covers the heartbreaking death of 16-year-old Kimani Gray who was shot by the NYPD this past weekend after allegedly attempting to adjust his belt. [Colorlines]
• Defense attorneys of the recent Steubenville case will be pleading that date rape does not exist. [The Atlantic Wire]
• The new stats on gender disparity in publishing were released last week by VIDA.  Here's what the editors at the least sexist publications had to say on their practices. [Flavorwire]
• Monica Roberts of TransGriot is the first transwoman keynote speaker at the 2nd Annual Black Transmen Conference which starts today, March 13, and goes through March 17.  [TransGriot]
• Tell your stories of identity and gender to The Bandit Zine by March 15 for consideration in their upcoming issue. [Autostraddle]
• With all the awkwardness and realness Girls is servin' up, it leaves some wondering what's up with the lack of condom talk on the show.  [Slate]
• Sure, things are mostly casual on Grindr, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't take it seriously.  The app is actually changing the way people connect in more ways than you might think. [The New York Times]

So that's what we've been reading up on.  Did we miss any links?  Send 'em our way and let us know in the comments.

Writer-director Sandra Goldbacher’s 2001 feature Me Without You champions the girl who gets overlooked and now serves as further evidence for the kind of actress Michelle Williams was to become. Attempting a British accent, Williams plays mousy intellectual Holly. At first glance, she is no match for her glamorous best friend Marina (Anna Friel). But the film makes clear that Holly is the better, more substantial person, especially by her jealous confidant’s own estimation. We’ve seen this dynamic play out between Betty and Veronica, Angela and Rayanne, and Nina and Nina. But it also challenges the binary I constructed between Holmes and Williams. Why is the girl with the most cake cast as the villain while the wallflower is valorized for being ignored?

A look back at Dawson's Creek, which offered music as a potential site for self-actualization to its female characters.

The run up to the Oscars is dominated by best-of lists, and - with few exceptions (including the Women Film Critics Circle Awards) - most of those lists end up looking just about the same: dominated by men, featuring only a small handful of female performers. Which is why it was so exciting this past weekend to see The New York Times list of the year's best. While not quite chock full of women, the list does draw attention to some fine filmmaking and performances by women that are not likely to draw attention at the major awards ceremonies this year. If you missed any of these in the theaters last year, you'll want to make sure to add them to your DVD queues this year.  Highlights after the jump...

What's up with women and film this week?

The Female Gaze takes a peek at trailers for The Proposal, Powder Blue, Terminator: Salvation and Mammoth... after the jump!